Networked amateur: performing arts and participatory culture in the continuum professionals-amateurs

The main goal of this contribution is to observe the relationship be- tween culture, communication and creativity as a complex phenomenon that requires us to follow the forms of co-evolution between a specific system of society—the art system—and the forms of communication. From the point of view of social system theory, and in particular that of Niklas Luhmann (2000), the art system is the place in which creativity is institutionalized and produces cultural forms such as communicable movements and artistic currents. Moreover the art sys- tem operates thanks to its specific institutions—art galleries, muse- ums, magazines, theatres, etc.—that is, through those social contexts that produce and circulate artistic communication. Nevertheless and inside the general theory of functional social dif- ferentiation it’s important to consider the relationship between the art system and its environment and the mutual irritability1 among the different functional systems of the society. The main systemic rela- tionship to observe, and the one that concerns us here, is between art and media. From its beginnings art has interacted with technology and has undertaken a continuous exchange with the media which has as- similated languages, aesthetics and logics. On this basis, the reflection on creativity and culture must take account of changes in communication. More precisely, we face a change of scenario and read it in a systemic and mediological key. From the systemic perspective we must observe the change of scenario from the point of view of social complexity; from the mediologic perspective, we must highlight the complexity of communication. In other words, the social complexity— which in our terms is the complexity of communication—is closely linked to the evolution of the media. That’s why the world-society (Luhmann 1997), which is the society formed by all possible communi- cations, emerges in a relation of homology with the context of global communication of the world-media (Boccia Artieri 2004). In this sense, the media should be considered as contexts of individual and collective experience and not “simple” tools for the transmission of information. This character of the media concerns the communication of the whole society and the way in which individuals participate in the communication and it is highlighted by the art system and the creative processes in the broadest sense. In fact, we will try to see how creativ- ity is a process that has spread culturally in relation to the evolution of the media and even more evidently with the digital culture. There are many contexts of the society in which it is possible to observe this trend. As mentioned above, however, art and creativity are the privi- leged places to observe this process and its steps. In the first section we will show how the evolution of the relationship between media— in its digital perspective—and society has changed individuals’ per- ception of their positioning in communication, even at the collective level as audience, public, consumers and citizens. This process created a suitable context for the emergence of a figure we call networked amateurs. This figure becomes central to the analysis of the system of art and creativity. The art system, as explained in the second section, evolved under the influence of the artistic avant-garde who conceived public participation as the goal of art. This principle is now being en- couraged by the language of the digital offering a spreadability of the artistic gesture in connection with the spread of the reality of the net- worked amateurs. A series of examples of projects and artistic works—both in visual art and in the field of theatre performance—in the third section show how the engagement of the spectator has be- come a central element in the creative process. But this type of crea- tive process remains internal to the art system, showing the self- 64 The Network Amateur reference and closing operation of the system. At the same time the artistic gesture, such as aesthetic widespread gesture, finds a way to express itself and be seen in the digital environment, in particular, as we explain in the fourth section, in the social network sites— especially those based on images, such as Instagram—and online worlds—such as Second Life

Mass media and the web in the light of Luhmann’s media system

The aim of the article is to observe the contemporary media system in the light of Luhmann’s media system, namely a specific function system of society which has witnessed ever greater internal complexity vis-a-vis an environment marked by the spread of the web and social network sites. From the viewpoint of sociocybernetics, the question of increased complexity can be addressed through an ecological approach in order to analyse the distinction between the mass media and the web – in its specific 2.0 evolution, characterized by user-generated content and algorithms. This approach allows to observe the reciprocal relations by preserving the autonomy of the two spheres without resorting to explanations that have to do with hybridization or the blur of the boundaries. In this sense the article analyses Facebook – as an example of web 2.0 operational logic – as a social system distinct from that of the mass media, where the first substantial difference depends on the role played by individuals in reproducing communication and on the role of the algorithm. In this sense mass media and the web are treated on the basis of their relationship of structural coupling by observing how they irritate, or disturb, each other and at the same time maintain their autonomy

Rethinking public agenda in a time of high-choice media environment

Contemporary political communication is conditioned by an information environment characterised, on the one hand, by increased choice, and on the other by the fragmentation and multiplication of the ways of consuming information. This article introduces the notion of the ‘interrelated public agenda’ as a frame to study this context, taking into account elements of convergence and divergence from a single viewpoint, adopting a complex analysis model which proceeds along axes which make it possible to detect a continuum in which opposing forces are in a constant, problematic equilibrium. In this sense, we identified three dimensions which are helpful in describing public agenda interrelations. First, horizontality vs verticality, which contains the dynamics of power, and is generated in a context of political disintermediation, through the altered nature of the media system—in the complex relation between legacy media and web 2.0, and between social, institutional actors, and others. Second, personal vs aggregative, which stresses the need to take account of convergences and divergences between personal orientation towards certain issues and the aggregative pressure in different media spaces in which people feel at home: from information consumption via media diets of varying complexity to active participation in the production of content or in public discourse, offline and online. And finally, dynamic vs static, which points to the need to orient analysis towards the relation between media spaces rather than focusing on specific spaces, thus helping, importantly, to make up for the current dearth of research in comparison with studies of single platforms

Below the Radar: Private Groups, Locked Platforms, and Ephemeral Content—Introduction to the Special Issue

none3noopenBoccia Artieri, Giovanni; Brilli, Stefano; Zurovac, ElisabettaBoccia Artieri, Giovanni; Brilli, Stefano; Zurovac, Elisabett

Networked Intimacy. Intimacy and Friendship among Italian Facebook users

In this paper, we describe the results of a qualitative study conducted with 120 Italian Facebook users to investigate how Facebook enables people to achieve a mutually constitutive intimacy with their own friendship network: a negotiation of intimacy in public through self-disclosure, where the affordances of the platform are useful to elicit significant reactions, validations and demonstrations of affection from others. We observed that, in order to achieve various levels of intimacy on Facebook, people engage in various strategies: Showing rather than telling, Sharing implicit content, Tagging, Expectation of mutual understanding and Liking. These strategies produce a collaborative disclosure that relies on others’ cooperation to maintain the boundaries between private and public space. Based on these premises, we developed a framework of collaborative strategies for managing public intimacy that both systematizes and extends the findings identified in previous studies of intimacy on Facebook. We describe this framework as networked intimacy and we discuss the consequences of it in the light of already existing research on online self-disclosure

Understanding Engagement and Willingness to Speak Up in Social Television: A Full-Season, Cross-Genre Analysis of TV Audience Participation on Twitter

The widespread use of digital platforms has changed the way people watch television. Despite an abundance of empirical studies, full-season, cross-genre analyses of different TV formats are rare. Based on a data set of 1,383,414 tweets, this study aims to close this gap by comparing Twitter commentaries around the 2012–2013 seasons of the Italian edition of The X Factor and the political talk show Servizio Pubblico. For each episode, we identify peaks of Twitter engagement and analyze the corresponding TV scene, revealing the role played by suspense and surprise in catalyzing the engagement of online audiences. A content analysis of 12,640 tweets created during peaks of engagement reveals how willingness to speak up varies when the topic is politics rather than entertainment

Fuentes de información, confianza y comunicación del sector de la salud pública sobre la pandemia de Covid-19: Un estudio en la percepción de los ciudadanos italianos

Introduction: In the context of infodemic disorder Covid-19 pandemic is a health emergency which also became a communication one. Objectives: The research purpose was to understand how Italians have informed themselves about the pandemic, which sources they have mainly used, and their assessments of public health sector communication at a national and local level. Methodology: The quantitative research consists of a survey conducted through telephone interviews (CATI+CAMI techniques) with a structured questionnaire to a sample of Italians in June and July 2021. Results: On average, watching TV, talking with friends, relatives, or acquaintances, and consulting the Internet are the leading ways of gaining information on the pandemic. Official online sources of information are the most used, followed by institutional websites which played a leading role during the pandemic: regions, the Ministry of Health, and the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. 34% of respondents claim to consult official social media pages or messaging apps of national or local authorities. Conclusions: In the pandemic communication, Italians recognize the crucial role of national and local authorities and online information media systems, but diverse challenges are open for the future of public health sector communication.Introducción: En el contexto del desorden infodémico la pandemia de Covid-19 es una emergencia sanitaria que también se convirtió en una emergencia de comunicación. Objetivos: El propósito de la investigación era conocer cómo se han informado los italianos sobre la pandemia, qué fuentes han utilizado y sus valoraciones sobre la comunicación del sector sanitario público a nivel nacional y local. Metodología: La investigación cuantitativa consiste en una encuesta realizada mediante entrevistas telefónicas (técnicas CATI+CAMI) con un cuestionario estructurado a una muestra de italianos en junio y julio de 2021. Resultados: En promedio, ver la televisión, hablar con amigos, familiares o conocidos y consultar Internet son las principales formas de información. Las fuentes oficiales online son las más utilizadas, seguidas de los sitios institucionales que desempeñaron un papel destacado durante la pandemia: las regiones, el Ministerio de Sanidad y la Presidencia del Consejo. El 34% de los encuestados afirma consultar las páginas oficiales de redes sociales o las aplicaciones de mensajería de las instituciones. Conclusiones: En la comunicación pandémica, los italianos reconocen el papel crucial de las instituciones y de la información online, pero se abren diversos retos para el futuro de la comunicación del sector de la salud pública

Interpreting the changeable meaning of hashtags: Toward the theorization of a model

This study contributes to the international debate on the hashtag's nature and characteristics and attempts to define it as a relational social form affected by morphogenetic–morphostatic processes. To develop this interpretative proposal, this study uses the dimensions of time and agency, drawing on Twitter hashtag studies. Subsequently, the article recalls elements of cultural morphogenesis, traces the points of contact between hashtag studies and cultural morphogenesis, constructs an interpretative proposal of the hashtag as a relational social form, and arrives at the formalization of a model for analyzing the changing meaning of hashtags

Lockdown and Breakdown in Italians' Reactions on Twitter during the First Phase of Covid-19

The article focuses on Italians' reactions to the pandemic on Twitter. During the first phase of the 2020 lockdown (from the beginning of March 2020 - to the beginning of May 2020), a real-time dataset was built, linking data scratching to three events related to the introduction of the Prime Minister's decrees and his press conferences. The chosen observation point is Twitter, platform that allows us to monitor the emergence of discussions on public issues, extremely synchronized with events and news – which is, moreover, a feature of use of this platform. The coronavirus hashtag was chosen as a mechanism to track the development of Italian reactions, following the evolution of its sense and sensemaking and considering it as a polysemic collector. The aim is to identify within the tweets the actors, the topics, and the tone of the debate in an open public space. Furthermore, the analysis is carried out in search of the Italians' perception of the lockdown and whether they are in favor of it because of the defense of public health or they see it as a restriction of their individual freedom. The analysis, which used the socio-constructivist approach of Emotional Text Mining, reveals two explanatory-dimensions in the governance of the crisis: lockdown and breakdown and allows us to understand the reasons for Twitter's instinct-reactions

Lockdown and Breakdown in Italians' Reactions on Twitter during the First Phase of Covid-19

The article focuses on Italians' reactions to the pandemic on Twitter. During the first phase of the 2020 lockdown (from the beginning of March 2020 - to the beginning of May 2020), a real-time dataset was built, linking data scratching to three events related to the introduction of the Prime Minister's decrees and his press conferences. The chosen observation point is Twitter, platform that allows us to monitor the emergence of discussions on public issues, extremely synchronized with events and news – which is, moreover, a feature of use of this platform. The coronavirus hashtag was chosen as a mechanism to track the development of Italian reactions, following the evolution of its sense and sensemaking and considering it as a polysemic collector. The aim is to identify within the tweets the actors, the topics, and the tone of the debate in an open public space. Furthermore, the analysis is carried out in search of the Italians' perception of the lockdown and whether they are in favor of it because of the defense of public health or they see it as a restriction of their individual freedom. The analysis, which used the socio-constructivist approach of Emotional Text Mining, reveals two explanatory-dimensions in the governance of the crisis: lockdown and breakdown and allows us to understand the reasons for Twitter's instinct-reactions